Mourners, including former U.S. president, remember Mattie Stepanek

Published: 2004-06-29

WHEATON, Md. (CNS) -- Former President Carter told the congregation at a Wheaton church June 28 that he had met kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, but the "most extraordinary person I have ever known in my life is Mattie Stepanek." Thirteen-year-old Mattie, who died June 22 in Washington after battling a rare form of muscular dystrophy, was remembered as a peacemaker, poet and philosopher during his funeral Mass at St. Catherine Laboure Church in the Washington suburb of Wheaton. Included among the hundreds of mourners were two of his friends and heroes, Carter and talk-show host Oprah Winfrey. Mattie met the former president as one of his final wishes three years ago on television's "Good Morning America." The two of them had an "instantaneous bond," said Carter. Knowing the boy, he said, "literally changed my life for the better." When Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize, he said, he remembered feeling that Mattie had shared in the award.

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